Horse Meat Test Kits Sent Around the World Made in Gainesville

GAINESVILLE - The horse meat scandal hitting the international scene is being tested by kits that are created right here in North Central Florida.

The latest source of horse meat detected where it shouldn't be is in the Swedish meatballs served at the IKEA furniture store.

The problem has not been detected in any of the U.S. stores.

The company, ELISA Technologies, is located on the Northwest side of Gainesville and has been in business since 1981.

The company does a variety of food safety testing, and while they are sending out these kits around the world, they also accept samples to test in their lab.

The administrative director of the comapny, Natalie Rosskopf, says here in the U.S. they have yet to find any traces of horse meat where it shouldn't be - "you are trying to hold people accountable for what's in the food and I will tell you the major companies we have spoken to have been proactive in testing to find out and to give customers peace of mind."

There have been so many kits ordered by businesses and distributors around the world that the company is back-logged until the end of March.

With good reason - the kits take about a week to create.

Besides testing for horse meat, the company does test all kinds of food.

The company primarily created the tests for the USDA before this surge of requests.

Rosskopf says the last time they had a rush for tests was during the mad cow disease outbreak.